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Summary and Significance for the Fragrance Industry
The present scientific review of odor preferences highlights several important factors. First, it appears that our odor preferences are learned and malleable. In particular, when a new odor is presented how it will be perceived depends greatly on the emotional association that accompanies it. Advertising methods that take advantage of this connection are currently used and they could be exploited much further to create positive emotional associations to new odors. Presenting an elegantly dressed, beautiful, successful woman in conjunction with a new perfume creates the link between the concepts of elegance, beauty and success with this new fragrance. However, a more powerful method would be to use direct marketing techniques where a person experiences a very positive experience while being exposed to a new fragrance for the first time.
This report also indicated that odor preferences can be changed, at least if they are not indelibly formed. In our study (Herz et al., 2004) after only two 15 minute pairings with a moderately positive emotional experience, an unpleasant odor was subsequently evaluated as much more acceptable and this improvement was sustained for at least one week (see Herz et al., 2004 for details).
In sum, the commercially significant features concerning associative learning and odor preferences are: (1) Through association with emotional experiences the hedonic perception of odors can be changed accordingly. Olfactory aspects of a product can be made to be perceived as particularly pleasant and unpleasant odors can be changed to be perceived as more acceptable. (2) Emotions and messages can be associated to a product’s aroma that will be re-activated when the aroma is experienced in the future.
Another major point revealed by this review is that the context, especially the verbal context in which an odor is encountered can be a powerful mediator of odor preferences, independent of past emotional learning. In particular, odors that are not strongly anchored to a specific source can be manipulated by the words used to describe them. Furthermore, the concepts of natural and synthetic/artificial are powerful mediators of odor preference, yet the average consumer is unable to distinguish between the natural and synthetic version of many common odorants, and often finds synthetic scents more appealing than natural ones.4 Notably, in my study where “synthetic” and “natural” odors were compared, when participants believed an odorant to be a mixture of natural and synthetic components they evaluated it just as positively as they did when they believed it to be 100% natural. This suggests that consumers will be satisfied with a product that contains artificial ingredients as long as an equivalent number of “natural” ingredients are also present.
The labels given for fragrances and perfumed products can also influence how they will be welcomed upon first sniff. For example, by creating a specific expectation, the name “Mr. Clean” has more inherent positive value than “Pinesol.” In addition to providing information and delivery promise, product names could also be more emotionally descriptive. For example, something named “Smiling Roses” is more attractive than “Rose” and would set up the expectation for the mood of happiness. Thus, the commercially relevant factors concerning verbal context are: (1) The words used to describe odors will set up an expectation for the consumer. (2) Words can manipulate a consumer’s appreciation for a scent (e.g., natural, synthetic). (3) Words invoking emotional suggestions can create a more holistic experience and be emotionally motivating. The bottom line is that the verbal context and emotional associations made during initial odor exposure are the keys to its success.
The findings described in this report have shown that we learn our odor preferences through associative learning with emotion. Our odor preferences can be manipulated and changed through emotional associative learning and the words used to describe odors will be pivotal to how they are perceived. These findings can be capitalized upon by the fragrance industry and should be very valuable.
(4) It is presumed that synthetic versions are preferred because of greater past exposure and familiarity with them in products. |
